Lockable furniture hinge

ABSTRACT

This disclosure concerns a lockable furniture hinge comprising a pair of hinge elements, a pair of connecting rods connected between the first and second hinge elements to provide relative movement of the latter between first adjacent and second more remote positions, and opposing locking means in the form of spring biased ball detents for engaging one of the connecting rods to lock the hinge elements in the adjacent position thereof.

s V U Umted States Patent 1191 1111 3,908,224 Vitt 1 1 Sept. 30, 1975 541 LOCKABLE FURNITURE HINGE 3.7243121 4/1973 Lautenschlueger 16/163 3.731,.343 5/1973 Naske 16/163 1751 Inventor: Germany 3,744,086 7 1973 Salice et a1. 16/164 {73] Assignccz Prameta Prazisionsmeta" und 3,772,736 11/1973 Hcttich et a1. 16/163 Kunststofferzeugnisse G. Baumann & Colognc- Germany Primary E.\'unzine1-Geo.'V. Larkin [221 Filed: No 20 1974 Attorney. Agent or FirmDil1er, Brown, Ramik &

Wight [21] Appl. No.: 525,458

[] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Nov. 29 1973 Germany .1 2359534 This disclosure concerns a lockable furniture hinge comprising a pair of hinge elements, a pair of connect- [52] US. Cl. 16/164 ing rods connected between the first and second hinge [51] Int. Cl. B14C 29/00 elements to provide relative movement of the latter [58] Field of Search 16/163-166, between first adjacent and second more remote pogi- 3. 158 5 3 tions, and opposing locking means in the form of 49, 80. 85 spring biased ball detents for engaging one of the connecting rods to lock the hinge elements in the adjacent [56] References Cited position thereof.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Cl 3 D F 3.564.643 2/1971 Salice 1. 16/163 rawmg Patent Sept.

FIG. 3

LOCKABLE FURNITURE HINGE The present invention is'directed to a hinge for door panels, particularly a furniture hinge which'includes a pair of hinge elements joined to each'other' by a pair of connecting rods which permit the hinge elements to move betweenadjacent and remote positions which correspond respectively to the closed and opened'conditions of a door. It is highlydesirable to maintain the door closed, though readily-releasable, and in accordance with this invention locking means in the form of spring biased ball detents'are carried by one of the hinge elements and biasingly engage sides. or flanks of one of the connecting rods in the closed .position'or condition of the hinge elements. In this manner the door when closed is faultlessly locked by a snapping action of the biased ball detents. to hold the hinge elements stationarily together, yet permit the door to be opened upon the overcomingof the biasing force.

Because of the type of construction just described it is readily easy to transform the locking hinge structure to a nonlocking hinge structure in embodiments or the is preferred. It is only necessary to remove the ball detent biasing means but from a single one of the hinge elements and, by a like token, should the hinge normally be of a nonlocking type it may be transformed into a locking type simply by inserting the spring biased ball detent means into but one. of the hinge elements which during its manufacture is provided with threaded bores for this purpose. Moreover, the same construction permits the typical hardware store. tocarry a minimum amount of parts and provide customers with either looking or nonlocking type hinges of the type to be described more fully hereinafter.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claimed subject matter, and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view with certain parts shown in side elevation for clarity, and illustrates a pair of hinge elements pivotally interconnected by connecting rods and one of a pair of spring biased ball detents retaining the hinge elements in their adjacent or closed position.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view looking from left-to-right in FIG. 1 with the hinge elements in their remote or open position, and more clearly illustrates recesses defining flanks in one of the connecting rods which are engaged by the opposing pair of spring biased ball detents.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view looking from rightto-left in FIG. 2, and illustrates the fully open position of the hinge elements.

A novel hinge constructed in accordance with this invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 and includes a pair of hinge elements 3, 5 which are respectively secured to a door 2 and a frame 7 of a piece of furniture, such as a desk, by a respective screws or similar fasteners 8, 7. The fastener 7 is one of several which pass through apertures (unnumbered) in a projecting portion 5b (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the hinge element 5. The hinge element 5 further includes a generally cylindrical housing 5a which is seated withina circular bore 6 of the frame 4. The

hinge element 3 includes a bifurcated projection 3a which in the most adjacent or closed position of the hinge elements 3, 4 is at least partially received within the chamber (unnumbered) defihed by the housing 5a, in the manner best illustrated in FIG. 1. I i

The hinge elements 3, 5 are joined to each other by a pair of curved connecting rods 9, 10 having opposite ends, a first (unnumbered) of which is joined by pivots 11, 12 to the p'rojection 3a of the hinge 3 and a second also unnumbered) of which are joined by pivots '13, 14 to the housing 5a of the hinge element 5. The connecting rods 9, 10 thereby define a generally parallelogram linkage which permits relative hinging between the hinge elements 3,5 in an 'arcuate path a plane through which isfno rmal' 'to the pivot points 11 through '14. e

' The hinge element 5 is provide with means for lock ingly engaging the connecting rod 10. The last mentioned locking means are a pair of spring biased'ball detent means, generally designated by the referencenumerals 15 and 16 (FIG. 2). The locking nieans lS, 16 have axes which are normal to the last-mentioned plane, namely, the plane of pivotal motion of the hinge element 3 asit moves between the closed position of FIG. 1 toward the open position of FIG. 3 or vice versa. The balldetent means 1 5 16 each includesia ball 18, 19, respectively, biased from left-to-right and right-toleft, respectively, as viewed in FIG. 2, by respective springs 22, 23 housed in cylindrical shells 20, 21, respectively, which in turn areseated in axially aligned bores 26, 27 of the housingSa. Outer most portions (unnumbered) of the bores 26, 27 are threaded to receive respective set screws 24, 25 which if threaded inwardly increase the tension of the springs 22, 23 or when threaded outwardly decrease the tension of the springs to thereby regulate the holding force of the locking means 15, 16. The shells may be shouldered, threaded, or otherwise retained in the bores, such as by high frictional purchase, in order that once positioned they are not forced, for example, toward each other such that a gap (unnumbered) therebetween is lessened beyond the point at which desired locking and unlocking can be efficiently achieved.

The locking means 15, 16 cooperate with the connecting rod 10 which is preferably provided with recesses 28, 29 such that as the projection 3a moves from the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 toward and into an opening 17 of a forward face (unnumbered) of the housing 5a the sides (unnumbered) of the connecting rod 10 at the recesses 28, 29 contact the respective balls 18, 19 and force the same inwardly against the tension of the springs 22, 23, respectively. When the sides adjacent the recesses 28, 29 pass beyond the axis of the aligned locking means 15, 16 the springs force the balls 18, 19 toward each other and these engage the connecting rod 10 in the manner readily apparent from FIG. 1 to thus securely though releasably retain the door 2 carried by the hinge element 3 in its closed position. However, by simply reversing the procedure just described by the application of an opening force to the door 2 the connecting rod 10 pivots counter-clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 1, and forces the balls 18, 19 away from each other as the springs 22, 23 are compressed and once the axis of the locking means 15, 16 is passed the hinge 3 freely moves to its most opened position (FIG. 3) and the balls 18, 19 are returned by the springs 22, 23 to the normal position shown in F IG. 2.

The elements 18, 20, 22 and 24 of the locking means may be constructed as a unitized assembly. In such construction the interior of the shell is threaded to receive the set screw 24 and the exterior of the shell 20 is threaded for receipt into the threaded bore 26. The like is true of the locking means 16. With this construction the locking hinge I may be supplied as is or instead the unitized locking means l5, 16 can be totally removed and the hinge 1 would then function as a nonlocking hinge. By the reverse construction one can transform a nonlocking hinge into a locking hinge simply by threading thereinto the unitized locking means l5, 16.

While preferred forms and arrangements of parts have been shown in illustrating the invention, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in detail and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. A hinge comprising a pair of hinge elements, a pair of connecting rods having first and second opposite ends, first pivot means for connecting first ends of said rods to a first of said hinge elements, second pivot means for connecting second ends of said rods to a second of said hinge elements, said connecting rods and first and second pivot means being constructed and arranged for providing relative movement of said pair of hinge elements between a first adjacent position and a second more remote position, and means carried by one of said hinge elements for lockingly engaging one of said connecting rods to releasably retain said hinge elements in said first adjacent position.

2. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means includes spring means for effecting a biased locking of said one hinge element relative to said one connecting rod.

3. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means includes ball detent means for effecting locking of said one hinge element relative to said one connecting rod.

4. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means includes spring biased detent means for effecting a biased locking of said one hinge element relative to said one connecting rod.

5. The hinge as defined in claim 4 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plane through which is normal to said first and second pivot means.

6. The hinge as defined in claim 5 wherein said locking means are disposed in opposing pairs on opposite sides of said path.

7. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plan through which is normal to said first and second pivot means.

8. The hinge as defined in claim 7 wherein said locking means are disposed in opposing pairs on opposite sides of said path.

9. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plane through which is normal to said first and second pivot means, and said locking means is movable in a direction transverse to said plane.

10. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plane through which is normal to said first and second pivot means, and said locking means is movable in a direction normal to said plane. 

1. A hinge comprising a pair of hinge elements, a pair of connecting rods having first and second opposite ends, first pivot means for connecting first ends of said rods to a first of said hinge elements, second pivot means for connecting second ends of said rods to a second of said hinge elements, said connecting rods and first and second pivot means being constructed and arranged for providing relative movement of said pair of hinge elements between a first adjacent position and a second more remote position, and means carried by one of said hinge elements for lockingly engaging one of said connecting rods to releasably retain said hinge elements in said first adjacent position.
 2. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means includes spring means for effecting a biased locking of said one hinge element relative to said one connecting rod.
 3. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means includes ball detent means for effecting locking of said one hinge element relative to said one connecting rod.
 4. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means includes spring biased detent means for effecting a biased locking of said one hinge element relative to said one connecting rod.
 5. The hinge as defined in claim 4 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plane through which is normal to said first and second pivot means.
 6. The hinge as defined in claim 5 wherein said locking means are disposed in opposing pairs on opposite sides of said path.
 7. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plan through which is normal to said first and second pivot means.
 8. The hinge as defined in claim 7 wherein said locking means are disposed in opposing pairs on opposite sides of said path.
 9. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plane through which is normal to said first and second pivot means, and said locking means is movable in a direction transverse to said plane.
 10. The hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting rods move in a path a plane through which is normal to said first and second pivot means, and said locking means is movable in a direction normal to said plane. 